I know this has made my Mommy very sad. Before I forget all the details, let me tell you about my life.

I was born to a doggy mommy collie and a doggy daddy sheltie. Well that's how the lady who owned them described them. I know my doggy mommy was a beautiful collie but my doggy daddy, although very friendly, certainly didn't look like any sheltie you'd see at a dog show. It really doesn't matter because my 7 brothers and sisters and I were meant to be pets not show dogs.

One day when I was about 8 weeks old a lady came to meet us. We all came to see her but I stayed for a little longer than they did and let her pet me. Boy, was I surprised when she came back and put me in a blue bag. When I could get my head out, I found that the lady and I were sitting in the back of a car.

As we rode along the lady would pick things off my head that she called fleas. I guess that is why, when we got home, I went directly from the bag into the bath tub.

As if that wasn't embarrassing enough, she took a picture of me getting my first bath. I blush just looking at how scrawny I was then.

See how scrawny I was? What a totally embarassing picture.

After that shocking bath. Mommy and her friends took me into the living room where we all sat in a circle on the floor. They were trying to think of a good name for me. Some of their suggestions were terribly embarrassing. I decided that I had to do something to show them what my name should be. I left the circle and hid behind my mommy. For humans, my Mommy was pretty smart. She knew right away what I was trying to tell them. From that time on everybody has called me Heidi.

I managed to survive my Mommy's house breaking lessons with the help of a crate. That crate was a nice place. I didn't mind staying there at all. It was better than seeing the disappointed look on Mommy's face when I made a boo boo on the carpet.

The next big event in my life was when we went to obedience classes. I loved riding in the car every week. This was a great time to meet all these dogs and the humans on the other end of their leash. I batted my big brown eyes and several humans would save a treat just for me. Boy, did I feel special.

I found this skill helped me throughout life. Humans would run to the treat bowl every time they came in the house. Sometimes I had to remind them who was the most important member of the house but most humans quickly learned this.

At the obedience school Mommy had to modify some of the rules. She was in a scooter and the rules they taught didn't fit our lifestyle. I loved that scooter. Mommy and I would go out for a long walk every day - sometimes twice a day. She'd make the scooter go at top speed and I'd get to run as fast as I could. Of course, we'd stop at every corner so that Mommy could check for traffic. My job was to sit when the scooter stopped and then get up when she said, "OK". We lived in an area with no sidewalks and very few cars; so we had the roads to ourself most mornings. In the afternoon we had to be more careful especially of those kids that would be on their bikes or skateboards.

After walking for several blocks I would get tired. Now came the fun part. I would climb on the scooter and ride between Mommy's legs the rest of the way. Sometimes I'd run for almost a mile before I'd let on that I was tired. Then I'd have the fun of riding all the way home.

All my walks weren't fun. There were times when I'd accidentally step in a fire ant mound or I'd get a seed covered with barbs stuck between the pads on my feet. The worst time was when I managed to tip over Mommy's scooter and she couldn't get up. Luckily there were some nice humans who helped her. I never did understand why they were worried about the fact that I was sitting on her. I was more afraid of them than they were of me. How foolish of them to think I'd bite them.